Today's Paper
» SPORT

Hughes confident of good show

: Australian batsman Phil Hughes said on Tuesday he has put his disappointing last Test performance behind him and is confident a year of work will pay off when he takes on Sri Lanka this week.

Hughes returns to the Test arena at Hobart’s Bellerive Oval, where he played his last Test in December 2011 and scored just 24 runs in two innings against New Zealand.

“This is the ground where things probably didn’t pan out perfectly on a personal note,” he told journalists in Hobart.

“Twelve months down the track, I feel like I’m in a better place now.”

Hughes, who turned 24 last month, was last week handed a second chance in the Australian team after veteran Ricky Ponting retired.

He has been in solid form in domestic cricket and appears to have satisfied selectors that he has overcome technical issues which made him vulnerable to the rising ball and led to his axing in the past.

“I feel like I’ve done a lot of work,” said Hughes, who has 17 Tests to his name. Hughes, who is expected to come in at No. 3 when the Test begins on Friday, said his playing style had developed in the year. — AFP